Virus News and Research

Latest Virus News and Research

Vaccine against cervical cancer on track for FDA approval

According to the Food and Drug Administration in the U.S. an experimental vaccine which prevents cervical cancer appears to be effective and has no major safety concerns.

17 May 2006

Valganciclovir may be the drug for chronic fatigue syndrome

A drug used to treat herpes has produced dramatic results in people with chronic fatigue syndrome, reported the Daily Mail (16 May 2006).

17 May 2006

Signaling pathways in immune cells may lead to novel HIV treatment

New research on signaling pathways in immune cells bolsters evidence of connections between the central nervous system and the immune system.

16 May 2006

Fifth from Indonesian family dies from bird flu

According to local health officials a fifth member of an Indonesian family has died of bird flu.

15 May 2006

Bird flu - the battle could be over

Even though Dr. David Nabarro, chief pandemic flu coordinator for the United Nations says he is encouraged by how both Thailand and Vietnam had responded to the health crisis facing their domestic poultry, and their successful efforts to reduce the threat of the disease, the deadly H5N1 strain still remains a significant threat, especially to Indonesia and Africa.

14 May 2006

Seniors should be last in line when it comes to bird flu jabs

According to two U.S. medical ethicists, because stocks of bird flu vaccine are likely to be in short supply, in the event of a bird flu pandemic, the young should have priority over the elderly, ill and disabled.

14 May 2006

Bird flu not spread on the wings of wild birds

According to a Dutch environmental organisation, the on-going fear that flocks of wild birds will spread the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu through Africa and Europe may be ill founded.

14 May 2006

15% of Asians living in New York City are chronically infected with hepatitis B virus

Chronic hepatitis B infection usually will lead to liver inflammation and can progress to cirrhosis and liver cancer. The reported infection rate is 35 times higher than the rate in the general U.S. population.

12 May 2006

No bail for six medics in Libyan HIV sham

Five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor who have been imprisoned in a Libyan jail since 1999 on spurious charges of deliberately infecting more than 400 children with the HIV virus, have had their request to be released on bail rejected.

11 May 2006

First human H5N1 bird flu case in Horn of Africa

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), a two-year-old girl in Djibouti has been become infected with H5N1; the girl is the first confirmed human case in the Horn of Africa.

11 May 2006

Promising chemo, therapeutic viruses, cutting-edge surgery debut at M. D. Anderson Cancer Center

Brain tumor specialists at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center are poised on the brink of a new era.

10 May 2006

Scientists unlock more secrets of HIV and SARS

UK scientists have cracked one of the key biological processes used by viruses such as HIV and SARS when they replicate according to a paper published in the journal Nature tomorrow (11 May). Viruses are able to interfere with the host cell processes that our bodies use to replicate cells, and protein synthesis is often one of their targets.

10 May 2006

Space technology to help hospitals contain spread of avian flu infection

In response to concerns from hospitals to prepare for eventual pandemic flu outbreaks, the French company AirInSpace, with support from ESA's Technology Transfer Programme, has successfully adapted technology developed to protect astronauts for use in critical care centres to protect immune-deficient patients against airborne pathogens such as the avian flu virus.

10 May 2006

Drought-induced amplification key to West Nile transmission

The spread of West Nile Virus appears to be triggered by a complex interaction of mosquitoes, nesting birds and specific weather patterns, scientists say, which leads to "amplification" of the virus within mosquito populations.

9 May 2006

Treatment with intravenous and oral antiviral medications may help relieve nerve pain related to shingles

A small trial suggests that treatment with intravenous and oral antiviral medications may reduce the nerve pain that occurs following shingles, according to a study posted online today that will appear in the July 2006 print issue of Archives of Neurology.

9 May 2006

Renewed interest in studying influenza A viruses

The emergence of the avian influenza virus H5N1 that is currently devastating chicken flocks in many countries and threatening to unleash a worldwide epidemic among humans has triggered a renewed interest among scientists in studying influenza A viruses, according to investigators at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

9 May 2006

Scientists assemble a complete viral coat around a gold nanoparticle

Using a short piece of DNA as a template, a team of investigators at North Carolina State University has assembled a complete viral coat around a gold nanoparticle.

9 May 2006

Effective gene suppression using small interfering RNA in hard-to-transfect human T cells

A technical advance in laboratory techniques may provide biology researchers broader access to RNA interference, a process of blocking the activity of targeted genes. RNA interference has recently emerged as an important tool in studying how genes function in normal biological processes and in disease.

9 May 2006

US bird flu plan puts the onus on local communities

In the event of a bird flu pandemic hitting the U.S. the government has released a pandemic response plan defining specific tasks for each federal government agency in order to help minimize disruptions.

8 May 2006

Chancroid vaccine may help control HIV in Africa

HIV plagues more than 25 million people in sub-Saharan Africa, according to the World Health Organization, and efforts to develop a vaccine against the virus have achieved limited success.

8 May 2006